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34 - Black Magic- a Tale of the Rise and Fall of the Antichrist by Marjorie Bowen · Black Magic- a Tale of the Rise and Fall of the Antichrist

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  Speaker 1: Section thirty four of Black Magic by Marjorie Bowen. This
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Part two, chapter
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  Speaker 1: twelve in the Vatican in the Ebony Cabinet. In the
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  Speaker 1: Vatican sat Michael the Second. An expression of utter anguish
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  Speaker 1: marked his face. Pallo Orsini entered. The Pope glanced at
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  Speaker 1: him without moving. No news, he asked, none of the
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  Speaker 1: lord tyrie. Your holiness, Michael the Second moistened his lips.
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  Speaker 1: They have searched everywhere throughout Rome, your Holiness, but he
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  Speaker 1: was armed. They said, when he left the palace, have
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  Speaker 1: you sent to the convent? I told you of Saint
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  Speaker 1: Angela beyond the Appian Gate. Yea, your Holiness, answered Orsini,
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  Speaker 1: And they found naught but a dead woman. The Pope
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  Speaker 1: averted his eyes. What did they with her? Orsini lifted
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  Speaker 1: his brows, cast her into the plague pit, Holiness, that
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  Speaker 1: quarter is a cardinal house. The Pope drew a deep breath.
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  Speaker 1: Well he is gone. I do not think him dead.
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  Speaker 1: He flung back his head. But the game is over,
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  Speaker 1: is it, not, Orsini? We fling down our pieces and
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  Speaker 1: say good night. His nostrils dilated, his eyes flashed. He
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  Speaker 1: brought his open hand softly on to the table. What
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  Speaker 1: does your holiness mean, asked Orsini. We mean that this
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  Speaker 1: puppet emperor of ours has forsaken us, and that our
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  Speaker 1: position becomes perilous, answered the Pope, Cardinal Narbonn, hurling defiance
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  Speaker 1: at us from Viterbule grows stronger, and the mob do
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  Speaker 1: not seek to deceive me, Orsini, The mob clamors against us.
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  Speaker 1: It is true, my lord. The Pope gave a terrible smile,
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  Speaker 1: and his beautiful eyes widened, and the soldier's mutiny, the
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  Speaker 1: Saxons at Chestevere have joined Baltasar, and the Vernays have
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  Speaker 1: left me. We have not enough men to hold Rome
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  Speaker 1: an hour. Well, Orsini, you shall take a summons to
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  Speaker 1: the cardinals, and we will hold a conclave there to
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  Speaker 1: decide how we may meet our fortune. The secretary departed
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  Speaker 1: in silence. Mutterings, murmurings, howlings rose from the accursed city
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  Speaker 1: to the Pontiff's chamber. Lightning darted from the black heavens,
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  Speaker 1: and thunder rolled round the hills of Rome. Michael the
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  Speaker 1: Second walked to and fro in his gorgeous cabinet. In
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  Speaker 1: the three days since Tiree had fled the city. His
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  Speaker 1: power had crumbled like a handful of sand. Rome had
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  Speaker 1: turned against him, and every hour men fell away from
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  Speaker 1: his cause. The devils too had forsaken him. He could
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  Speaker 1: not raise the spirits, the magic fires would not burn.
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  Speaker 1: All was blank, darkness and silence. The day wore on,
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  Speaker 1: and the storm grew in violence. Paolo Orsini came again
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  Speaker 1: to him, his face pale. Half the cardinals are fled
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  Speaker 1: to Viterbol, and those remaining refuse to acknowledge your holiness.
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  Speaker 1: The Pope smiled. I had expected it. News comes from
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  Speaker 1: a Greek runner that Tyrie of Dendermande is with Baldassar's host.
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  Speaker 1: Also I expected that, said Michael the second wildly, And
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  Speaker 1: they proclaim you, continued Orsini, in an agitated manner, an impostor,
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  Speaker 1: one given to evil practices. And by these means in
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  Speaker 1: sight the people against you. Cardinal or Vieto has led
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  Speaker 1: a thousand men across the marshes to the Emperor's army,
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  Speaker 1: and Tirie of Dendermande has denounced me, said the Pope,
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  Speaker 1: as he spoke one beat for admission on the gilt door.
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  Speaker 1: The secretary opened, and there entered an eastern chamberlain Holiness,
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  Speaker 1: he cried fearfully. The people have set fire to your
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  Speaker 1: palace on the Palatine Hill, and Cardinal Colonna with his
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  Speaker 1: brother Octavian, have seized Castel Saint Angelo for the Emperor
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  Speaker 1: and hold it in defiance of your grace. The captain
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  Speaker 1: of my guard and those faithful to me, answered, the
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  Speaker 1: Pope will know how to do what may be done.
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  Speaker 1: Apprize me of the approach of Baltassar's host, and now go.
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  Speaker 1: They left him. He stood for a while, listening to
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  Speaker 1: those ominous sounds that filled the murky air. Then he
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  Speaker 1: pressed a spring in one of the mother of Pearl
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  Speaker 1: panels and stepped into the secret chamber that was revealed. Cautiously.
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  Speaker 1: He closed the panel by which he had entered and
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  Speaker 1: looked furtively about him. The small, windowless space was lit
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  Speaker 1: only by one blood red lamp. Locked cupboards lined the walls,
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  Speaker 1: and a huge globe of faint gold painted with curious
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  Speaker 1: and mystic symbols hung from the ceiling. The Pope's stiff
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  Speaker 1: garments made a soft rustling sound as he moved. His quick,
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  Speaker 1: desperate breathing disturbed the heavy, confined air. In his pallid face,
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  Speaker 1: his eyes rolled and gleamed. Satanas, Satanis, He muttered, Is
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  Speaker 1: this the end? A throbbing shook the red lit gloom.
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  Speaker 1: His last words were echoed mournfully, the end. The Pope
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  Speaker 1: glared in front of him. Must I die, Satanas? Must
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  Speaker 1: I swiftly die? A little confused laughter came before the
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  Speaker 1: echo swiftly die. He paced up and down the narrow space.
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  Speaker 1: I staked my fortunes on that man's faith, and he
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  Speaker 1: has forsaken me, and I have lost, lost, lost, lost.
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  Speaker 1: The Pope laughed frantically. At least she died Satanis. Her
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  Speaker 1: yellow hair rots in the plague pit. Now I had
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  Speaker 1: some skill left, But what was all my skill if
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  Speaker 1: I could not keep him faithful to me? He clasped
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  Speaker 1: his jeweled hands over his eyes. Utter silence followed his words.
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  Speaker 1: Now the globe of pallid gold trembled in the darkness
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  Speaker 1: of the domed ceiling, and the mystic characters on it
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  Speaker 1: began to Writhe and move, Ye warned me, breathed the Pope,
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  Speaker 1: that this man would be my bane. You promised on
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  Speaker 1: his truth to you and me to have the world
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  Speaker 1: between us. He was false, and you have utterly forsaken me,
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  Speaker 1: the echo answered utterly forsaken. The lamp went out. The
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  Speaker 1: pale luminous globe expanded to a monstrous size. The circle
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  Speaker 1: of dark little fiends round it danced and whirled madly.
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  Speaker 1: Then it burst and fell in a thousand and fragments.
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  Speaker 1: At the Pope's feet. Out of the darkness came a wail,
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  Speaker 1: as of some thing hurt or dying. Then long sighing
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  Speaker 1: shook the close air. The Pope fell along the wall,
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  Speaker 1: touched the spring, and stepped into the ebony cabinet. He
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  Speaker 1: looked quite old and small, and bowed. Night had fallen.
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  Speaker 1: He sank into a chair and folded his hands in
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  Speaker 1: his lap. His head fell forward on his breast. His
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  Speaker 1: lips quivered, and two tears rolled down his cheeks. The
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  Speaker 1: Angelus bells rang out over the city. There were not
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  Speaker 1: many to ring now. As they quivered away. A clock
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  Speaker 1: struck quite near. The Pope did not move once again.
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  Speaker 1: Pallo Orsini entered, and Michael the Second averted his face.
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  Speaker 1: Holiness belt us our marches on Rome, said the secretary.
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  Speaker 1: The mob rushed forth to join him. And if the
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  Speaker 1: gates were brass and five times brass, the Vatican could
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  Speaker 1: not withstand them now. The Pope turned his white face.
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  Speaker 1: What may I do? The captain of the guard suggests
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  Speaker 1: that ye come to terms with the Emperor and by
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  Speaker 1: submission save your life. That I will not. Then it
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  Speaker 1: were well, if your holiness would flee, there is a
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  Speaker 1: secret way out of the Vatican, and that I will not.
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  Speaker 1: Or see, He too was very pale. Then you are
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  Speaker 1: doomed to fall into the hands of Baltasar, and he
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  Speaker 1: and his faction say horrible things. The Pope rose, you
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  Speaker 1: think they would lay hands on me? I do fear it.
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  Speaker 1: It would be a shameful death. Or see thee surely
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  Speaker 1: not that. I cannot think the Emperor would do more
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  Speaker 1: than imprison your holiness. The Pope went to the window.
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  Speaker 1: How they howl, he said, through his teeth, and Baltasar
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  Speaker 1: comes near nearer. He checked himself abruptly, I will dine
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  Speaker 1: here to night. Orsini, see that everything is done as usual.
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  Speaker 1: The secretary bowed himself out of the gilt door. Michael
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  Speaker 1: the second went to the table on the dais and
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  Speaker 1: took from it a scroll of parchment standing in the
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  Speaker 1: center of the room. He unrolled it. Some verses were
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  Speaker 1: written in scarlet ink on the smooth surface. In a
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  Speaker 1: low voice, he read aloud the two last, If love
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  Speaker 1: were all, I had lived glad and meek, nor heard
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  Speaker 1: ambition call and valor speak. If love were all, he
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  Speaker 1: smiled bitterly. But love is weak and often leaves his
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  Speaker 1: throne among his scattered roses, pale to weep and moan,
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  Speaker 1: and I apostate to his whispered creed shall miss his
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  Speaker 1: wings above my pall, nor find his face in this
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  Speaker 1: my bitter need. When love is all. He tore the
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  Speaker 1: parchments into fragments and scattered them on the floor. Again,
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  Speaker 1: the gilt doors were open. This time a chamberlain entered.
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  Speaker 1: A herald had brought a fierce and grim message from Baltassar.
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  Speaker 1: It spoke of the Pope as Antichrist, and called on
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  Speaker 1: him to submit if he would keep his life. The
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  Speaker 1: Pope read it with haughty eyes. When he had finished,
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  Speaker 1: he rented across and cast the pieces down among the others.
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  Speaker 1: And ye shall hang the herald, he said, we have
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  Speaker 1: so much authority. The chamberlain handed him a second packet,
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  Speaker 1: sealed from Tyrie of dender Monday. The Pope took the packet,
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  Speaker 1: let the herald live he said, but cast him into
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  Speaker 1: the dungeons. The chamberlain withdrew For a while. Michael the
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  Speaker 1: Second stood staring at the packet while the thunder crashed
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  Speaker 1: over Rome. Then he slowly broke the seal. He unfolded
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  Speaker 1: the long strip of vellum, and went nearer the candles
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  Speaker 1: to read it. Thus it ran the Emperor's camp, marching
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  Speaker 1: on Rome tirie of dender Monde. To Michael, Pope of Rome,
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  Speaker 1: Thus I am approaching madness. I cannot sleep or rest
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  Speaker 1: after days of torment. I write to you, whom I
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  Speaker 1: have twice betrayed. She died on my breast, but I
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  Speaker 1: do not care. Baltasar says he saw her walking on
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  Speaker 1: the Maremma, but I saw nothing. Before she died. She
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  Speaker 1: said something I think of you, and of nothing else.
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  Speaker 1: Though I have betrayed you, I have never uttered what
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  Speaker 1: she said. No one guesses the uncertainty, the horror gnaw
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  Speaker 1: away at my heart. So I write this to you.
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  Speaker 1: This is my If you are a devil, be satisfied,
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  Speaker 1: for your devil's work is done. If you are a man,
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  Speaker 1: you have befriended, wronged me, and I have avenged myself.
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  Speaker 1: If you are that other thing, you may be. Then
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  Speaker 1: I know you love me, and that I kissed you once.
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  Speaker 1: If this last be true, as I do think it true,
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  Speaker 1: have some pity on my long ignorance, and believe I
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  Speaker 1: have it in me to love even as you have loved, Oh, Ursula,
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  Speaker 1: I know a city in India where we might live,
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  Speaker 1: and you forget you ever ruled in Rome. Yonder are
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  Speaker 1: other gods who are so old they have forgot to punish,
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  Speaker 1: and they would smile on you and me There, Ursula,
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  Speaker 1: Baltus are marches on the city, and you must be
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  Speaker 1: ruined and discovered, brought to an end so horrible. You
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  Speaker 1: have showed me a secret way out of the Vatican.
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  Speaker 1: Use it now this night. I am in advance of
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  Speaker 1: the host. I shall be without the Appian gate to night,
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  Speaker 1: and I have means whereby we may fly to the coast,
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  Speaker 1: and there take ship to India until we meet. Farewell,
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  Speaker 1: and in the name of all the passions you have
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  Speaker 1: roused in me. Come. As the Pope read all the
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  Speaker 1: color slowly left his face. When he had finished, he
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  Speaker 1: mechanically rolled up the parchment, then unrolled it again. Thunder
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  Speaker 1: shook the Vatican, and the mob howled without again, He
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  Speaker 1: read the letter. Then he thrust it into one of
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  Speaker 1: the candles and watched it blacken, curl, and burst into flame.
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  Speaker 1: He flung it on the marble floor and set his
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  Speaker 1: gold heel on it, grinding it into ashes. At the
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  Speaker 1: usual hour, they served his sumptuous supper. When it was
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  Speaker 1: finished and removed, Pallo, Orsini came again, Will not your
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  Speaker 1: holiness fly before it is too late? All traces of
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  Speaker 1: anguish and woe had vanished from his master's features. He looked,
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  Speaker 1: proud and beautiful. I shall stay here, but let them
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  Speaker 1: who will seek safety. He dismissed Orsini and the attendants.
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  Speaker 1: It was now late in the evening, and the thunder unceasing.
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  Speaker 1: The pope locked the door of the cabinet, then went
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  Speaker 1: to the gilt table and wrote a letter rapidly. This
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  Speaker 1: he folded, sealed with purple wax, and stamped with his
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  Speaker 1: great thumb ring. He sat silent a little while after this,
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  Speaker 1: and stared with great luminous eyes before him. Then roused
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  Speaker 1: himself and unlocked a drawer in the table. From this
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  Speaker 1: he took some documents tied together with orange silk, and
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  Speaker 1: a ring with a red stone in it, one by one.
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  Speaker 1: He burnt the parchments in the candle, and when they
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  Speaker 1: were reduced to a little pile of ashes, he cast
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  Speaker 1: the ring into the midst of it and turned away.
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  Speaker 1: He crossed to the window, drew the curtains, and looked
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  Speaker 1: out over Rome. In the black heavens. Above the black
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  Speaker 1: hills hung a huge meteor, a blazing globe of fire
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  Speaker 1: with a trail of flame. He took up one of
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  Speaker 1: the candles and went to the gold door that led
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  Speaker 1: to his bed chamber. Before he opened it, he paused
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  Speaker 1: a moment. The candle flame lit his vivid eyes, his
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  Speaker 1: haughty face, his glittering vestments. He turned the handle and
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  Speaker 1: entered the dark, spacious room. Through the high, undraped window
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  Speaker 1: could clearly be seen the star that seemed to burn
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  Speaker 1: away the very sky. The pope set the candle on
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  Speaker 1: a shelf, where it showed dim glimpses of white and
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  Speaker 1: gold tapestries, walls of alabaster, a bed of purple and gilt, mysterious,
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  Speaker 1: gorgeous luxury. He returned to the cabinet and took from
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  Speaker 1: the bosom of his gown a little bottle of yellow
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  Speaker 1: jade for the stopper. A ruby served the thunder crashed deafeningly.
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  Speaker 1: The lightning seemed to split the room in twain. The
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  Speaker 1: Pope stood still, listening. Then he blew out the candles
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  Speaker 1: and returned to his bed chamber. Softly, he passed into
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  Speaker 1: the scented, splendid chamber and closed the door behind him.
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  Speaker 1: End of section thirty four. Recording by Molly Craig